This invention relates to totebags usable as backrests such as are disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,601 issued Mar. 25, 1980. More particularly, this invention relates to such totebags enabling easier top access and opening, surer footing and positioning in sandy or loose ground when used as a backrest and to a more effective construction adapted for ease and economy of manufacture.
The referenced patent describes an especially useful article providing an improved combination totebag and backrest in which the frame of the bag is hingedly connected at the handle, opens at the feet, and, when supported by the cloth of the bag may be arranged as stable A-frame structure. The bag includes a seat flap which extends under the user and upon which one may sit while leaning backwards against the open bag and frame. As disclosed in said patent, the frame structure is pivotly connected by a hinge at the handle which for reasons of security when resting against the same does not release. It would be desirable if the hinge could be arranged to be selectively releasable in a convenient and reliable way so as to facilitate opening the top of the bag to place objects in it. The construction of such a hinge would have to be very reliable when being leaned against so as to avoid collapse of the bag in use as a backrest. Also the original totebag was assembled with frame members so shaped that the sewing operations required for attaching the bag after assembly over the frame required special type of sewing machine arm. And, while the original bag disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,601 was desirably smooth in contour particularly at the lower edges, this desirable feature of appearance was obtained only with the omission of extensions which would have provided greater stability to the bag in sand or loose soil. There is therefore a need for a new and improved totebag and backrest combination structure, and method of manufacture which will provide these features.